Friday, 5 April 2013

Tour News - The Drones

In support
of their thrilling new opus, I See
Seaweed, Australia’s finest, The Drones, will be going for a trot around
the country starting next Thursday night at the Spotted Cow in Toowoomba.

I once read
a quote about front man, Gareth Liddiard, which goes like this:

“Gareth
Liddiard could make going to the corner shop to buy a loaf of bread sound cataclysmic”.

In
nutshell, this is spot on. I’ll say it now, If Gareth Liddiard isn’t one of the
best songwriters to ever come out of this country then I’m missing something. In
music, there’s no one more polemic when it comes to asking the big questions in
this country. Nick Cave? More poetic, and if anything, has avoided topics
pertaining to his homeland. Peter Garrett? I personally think he lacked the
fire and brimstone that Liddiard has.

I See Seaweed is a conquest. It’s The Drones at their ferocious
best. Is it their best effort, thus far? Many will say yes. I’m not so sure.
This band is a slow burner for me. Wait
Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies will Float by took a good
six months to sink in on my watch, as did Gala
Mill. ISS hit me straight up. Whether
that’s anything to go by, again, time will tell. As it stands, it would be fair
to say that it’s a close run thing.

The best
review I’ve read of the album is over at Mess
and Noise. Written by Kate Hennessy, I’d go as far to say it’s one of the
best and most thought out album reviews I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Check
it out here:

Also,
Liddiard has given an insight into each song on the album in an
interview with Faster Louder earlier
this year. A lot of the time, I’m not so keen on artists doing this, as songs
should be open to interpretation, however Liddiard being the master that he is
doesn’t give the whole lot away in his answers; typical of the man, really.
Check the interview out here.